


Being A Maid Was Simpler

by nehemiah



Category: A Song of Ice and Fire - George R. R. Martin, Game of Thrones (TV)
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, F/M, Fic as coping mechanism, Gen, it's been 84 years, those two idiots
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-07
Updated: 2019-05-07
Packaged: 2020-02-27 13:14:30
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 774
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18739759
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nehemiah/pseuds/nehemiah
Summary: just when I thought I was out... THEY PULLED ME BACK INso let's pretend that our favourite characters are actually in something good and coherent





	Being A Maid Was Simpler

Grey ash falls, silence reigns, a single figure limps up the kingsroad.

Jaime’s mind is curiously blank. The only word that comes to mind, to describe his feelings and the world he sees around him, is _new-born_. The ties, the commitments, the oaths, the tangles he’s carried in his heart for a lifetime, are gone.

He knows there’s one place left to go. His horse is tethered up in a familiar roadside clearing, the site of a painful parting two or three lifetimes ago. Were the Seven watching? As he draws closer, he sees a figure stood waiting for him.

‘Brienne,’ he gasps, and strides toward her, reaching out his good arm. He’s caught by surprise as a hard shove knocks him into the dirt by the roadside.

‘Don’t you touch me,’ she hisses.

*

'Did you expect more courtesy in my welcome? Like the courtesy you showed me, Ser, trying to abandon me in the night without a farewell? And saying - saying what you said - because I am too wretched a creature to deserve honesty? Do you truly think so little of me?'

She's breathing hard, face locked in a scowl. For a moment he can't find any words.

'Do you understand how hard it was for me to… let you in? How hard, after so many years, to lower my guard and trust someone and…’ Now she’s looking at him like he’s a stranger, the way she used to before Harrenhal. She takes a step back. ‘You really don’t, do you? Did you ever truly know me?’

‘I do, Brienne,’ he protests. ‘I know you b-‘

‘Take that stupid expression off your face, Ser!’ she blazes. ‘Staring at me like a lost puppy is not as irresistible as you seem to believe! I came all the way here because, fool that I am, I care about your well-being.’ Some of the anger flows into grief. ‘Perhaps one day I might meet someone who cares about mine.’

‘You have,’ he says in earnest tones. ‘Brienne! I know I hurt you! Only because I wanted you to be out of harm’s way. I wanted to keep you safe.’

She is unmoved.

‘And are you the only one who has that privilege? I wanted to keep _you_ safe, Jaime. But you told me a pack of lies you _knew_ would cause me pain, so I would stay ‘safe’ in the North, while _I_ had to stand and watch you ride away knowing you were going to your death.’ There’s desperation in her voice now. ‘How do you think I _felt_?'

‘I didn’t go to my death,’ he manages, holding up his hands.

‘I wish you h-‘ but she purses her lips tight before the rest of the sentence comes out.

A moment of truce. Brienne stamps around in a half-circle, looking everywhere but at Jaime.

‘I was so scared about… being with you. I thought I would get everything wrong and embarrass myself at every turn. I used to fear you’d run out of patience with me.’ She shakes her head in agitation. ‘Now I think you’re more clueless than I am.’

Swiftly, her hands go to the sword at her belt. For a second Jaime’s eyes open wide and he tenses to scramble back – but it’s the hilt, not the point, that is thrust at him.

‘Grasp it,’ she says. ‘Swear on it. Swear you will never lie to me again, and swear-‘ her voice cracks deeper –‘swear you will _never_ hurt me like that again. Don’t just say the words, Jaime. Think about it, and mean it.’

He does.

Slowly the anger drains out of Brienne, and she sighs and hunkers down opposite him.

‘Being a maid was simpler,’ she laments to nobody in particular.

*

 

‘Where are we headed, then?’

‘I did not ask you to accompany me, Ser.’

‘You didn’t forbid me, either.’ She doesn’t have to turn around to know that he’s grinning. ‘Not that you’d have the right to. The king’s roads are open to all. So where are headed?’

‘Home,’ she says grudgingly. ‘Her Grace released me from service.’

‘Tarth? I’ve always wanted to visit that dreary mountain in the sea.’

No response comes.

‘And I’m sure your lord father will be _delighted_ to learn how you’ve been spending your time.’

He doesn’t have to ride around to know that she’s blushing. But she still says nothing.

 ‘It’s a long journey, my lady,’ said Jaime. ‘It’s going to be awfully dull if you don’t talk to me the whole way.’

‘Dull is good.’

‘How are we going to pass the time?’

‘By putting one foot in front of the other.’

**Author's Note:**

> then they have incredible makeup sex and live happily ever after. fin.


End file.
